In Michigan, Highland Park, Inkster and Buena Vista School districts had the largest deficits, when measuring that deficit as a percentage of their revenue, projected for fiscal year 2013.

Between 1989 and 2011, 165 districts ended the year in a deficit; most had a deficit for three years or less. The Ewen-Trout Creek Consolidated district located in the U.P. operated in a deficit for 18 years of the 21-year time period. The district serves about 248 students and emerged from the red in 2012.